How Can We Learn to Trust God Completely?
Faith is more than positive thinking.
Positive thinking will NOT produce faith.
Faith is trust in God, and the only way to
develop faith is to learn to know God.
Since He is trustworthy, as we learn to
know Him, we spontaneously learn to trust
Him. Faith is trusting God when things
don't turn out the way we expect.
Hebrews 11:6 is the classic text:
"Without faith it is impossible to
please God: for he that cometh to God must
believe that He is (that God exists), and
that He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him."
God IS a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. Not those who seek
merely His blessings, but those who seek
Him, are the ones who find their reward.
For He is the reward.
Yet, Luke 18:8 says,
"When the Son of man comes, will He
find faith on earth?"
You can't work on your righteousness -
nor can you work on your faith. Both are
gifts. Both are fruit. Both come as a
result of knowing Jesus. And knowing Jesus
comes as a result of spending time in
communion and fellowship and relationship
with Him. If you will come to Him, He will
give you the genuine faith that you need.
The first byproduct of seeking Jesus is
genuine faith. Righteousness, or
right-doing, is the second.
No man can create faith. The Spirit of
God operating upon and enlightening the
human, creates faith.
Only two things are necessary in order
to trust someone. First you must find
someone who is trustworthy. Second, you
must get to know him.
But when it comes to the Christian
life, only one thing is required; that you
come to Jesus, and that you keep coming to
Him day by day. If you will keep coming to
Him, God has made Himself responsible for
taking care of everything else that needs
to happen in your life. "If the eye is
kept fixed on Christ, the work of the
Spirit does not cease until the soul is
conformed to God's image." E.G.White, The
Desire of Ages, pg 302.
The only deliberate effort in the
Christian life is to seek God. Spontaneous
effort toward other things will result.
God is bringing us to a decision: Do we
trust God or do we trust in "man"?
Isn't it reasonable to trust good
Christian experts, like doctors and
counselors? Doesn't God work through them?
When Jesus was on earth and someone
came to Him for healing, He never once
said, "Go see Luke, I heal through
doctors." (Luke was a physician) Instead,
Jesus healed the person directly, either
through His Word, which we have today in
the form of the Bible, or He healed them
through natural methods, such as clay or
water.
God has promised to "heal ALL our
diseases." Psalm 103:3 He tells us that
He, alone, is our Physician. "I am the
Lord who heals you." Exodus 15:26 Then He
tells us exactly how He will do it in
Deuteronomy 7:11-15: "If you obey My laws
(including His Ten Natural Health Laws),
My commandments and My decrees. . . I will
keep you free from EVERY disease."
We must claim God's promise of healing,
THEN we must follow His procedure that
consists of keeping His Ten Commandments
and following His Ten Natural Health Laws
(Please see "You Can't Improve on God" at
ww.drday.com).
All action is dependent on belief. In
other words, if you believe something, you
will act on it. If you don't believe it,
you will not act on it. If you truly
believe that God heals through His Ten
Step Natural Health Plan, you will follow
it. If you DON'T believe in it, you won't.
Instead, you will go to the doctor and use
drugs and/or surgery to treat disease.
Many Christians believe that God gave
us doctors, so therefore we should use
them. Just because doctors are present on
earth, we cannot automatically assume that
God wants us to use them. The mere
presence of various other groups of people
on earth, such as thieves, prostitutes,
murderers, does not, in any way, suggest
that God wants us to employ their
services.
(Note: I'm not suggesting that doctors
are thieves, prostitutes or murderers.
Please don't miss the point of this
illustration.)
Many Christians will say they believe
in God's Natural Plan of Healing, but then
they trot off to the doctor to receive
conventional drug treatment. It is
impossible to have it both ways. Your
actions will reveal your beliefs. What you
DO speaks much louder than what you say!
That's why the Bible says, "Faith
without works, is dead." If you claim to
have faith, to believe God's promises, but
you don't act on them, then you really
have no faith. Your faith is "dead."
We are told in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now
and let us reason together..." yet in 2
Corinthians 5:7 we're told to "walk by
faith and not by sight."
What happens to our "reason" if we walk
by faith (believing without seeing) and
not by sight. The knowledge of this world
tells us that we should only believe when
we see! I'll believe it when I see it," is
a frequently spoken phrase.
But God's way is different. God says
that we will only SEE, when we first
BELIEVE! The "believing" comes first. We
must believe that God WILL do what He has
already promised to do. Only then will we
see the promise fulfilled.
Jesus could not do many healings in His
home town of Nazareth "because of their
unbelief." The one prerequisite for anyone
who came to Jesus for healing was that he
must "believe" - he must have faith.
But in order to trust God, one must get
to know Him. You cannot trust a stranger
with your life. In order to trust someone,
that person must, over time, prove himself
to be worthy of your trust - to be
trustworthy.
So, how do we get to know God so well
that we can trust Him with our life?
What Does it Mean to "Know" God?
Do you Really KNOW God or do you just
know ABOUT God?
!
Right before Jesus was arrested to be
crucified, He spoke to His disciples,
saying:
John 17:1,2 "Father, the hour is come:
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may
glorify Thee: As thou hast given Him
authority over ALL flesh, that He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him."
(Note here another reference to
Universal Restoration, because we read in
John 3:35 -
"The Father loves the Son,
and has given ALL into His hand."
verse 3 "And THIS is life eternal
(eonian), that they might know Thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent."
Since our "eternal life" depends on
"knowing" God and Jesus Christ, we must
understand what that means and involves.
Notice also that in John 16:31, Jesus
asked His disciples,
"Do you now believe? Behold, the hour
cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered, every man to his own place, and
shall leave Me alone: and yet I am NOT
alone, because the Father is with Me."
Since Jesus came to walk our walk, to
show us what WE would have to go through,
to be an example for US, this passage
tells us that we, too, shall be ALONE when
we are tested in the last days, which are
upon us now. There will be no "church" to
support us, and most, if not all, of our
friends will forsake us just as Jesus'
closest friends forsook Him. We will have
to depend entirely on our heavenly Father
for support.
(Unfortunately, the Christian "church"
of today is teaching everyone to depend on
"the Church" rather than on God. The
members are taught to depend on each
other, to depend on support groups, to
depend on "Christian" psychologists, to
depend on the other members of the women's
ministries, to depend on the other members
of Promisekeepers, and other "Christian"
organization support systems, and to
depend on their pastors and other church
leaders, rather than on God!)
Jesus, in speaking of His Second Coming
and His relationship to many professed
Christians at that time, declared in Matt.
7:21-23:
"Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
My Father which is in heaven.
"Many will say to Me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name?
And in Thy Name have cast out demons? and
in Thy Name done many miracles?
"And then will I profess unto them, 栗
never KNEW you: depart from Me, you that
work iniquity (lawlessness)."
Jesus is clearly talking about those
who profess to follow Him - Believers! He
is NOT speaking about unbelievers.
"Unbelievers" will not be prophesying in
the name of Christ, casting out demons or
performing miracles in the name of Christ.
Obviously, Jesus is referring to
Christians when He declares that He will
say to them,
"I never KNEW you; depart from Me, you
that work iniquity (lawlessness)"
The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:4 that,
"Whosoever commits sin transgresseth
also the law: for sin is the transgression
of the law." (The literal translation is:
"Whosoever commits sin commits
lawlessness; for sin is lawlessness.")
So the group that Jesus is speaking of
here, those who are prophesying, casting
out demons and doing miracles in the name
of Christ, are the very people who profess
to be Christians, profess to be followers
of Christ, but are transgressing the law -
they are guilty of lawlessness. They are
NOT real Christians, and, in fact, they
are the second Beast in Revelation 13 -
the Lamb-like beast (they appear to be
Christians) but they speak as a dragon
(they have the character and message of
Satan - the dragon).
This comprises the vast majority of the
"Christian" church of today who PROFESS to
"Know" Christ, but really DON'T!
What does it mean to "know" Christ?
In Genesis 4:1, God's Word gives us the
definition of the word "know":
"And Adam KNEW Eve his wife; and she
conceived, and bare Cain..."
God uses the word "Know" to mean the
most intimate relationship that two
individuals can have with each other.
That's the kind of spiritual relationship
we must have with God, if we are to be in
the group that really "Knows" God.
What does that spiritual intimacy
include?
1. We must have such an intimate
relationship with God that we can truly
talk with Him as we talk with our spouse
or closest friend. We must share
everything with Him. Talking to Him must
become easy, second-nature, not contrived
or stumbling, even though it may be
uncomfortable and stumbling in the
beginning.
2. We must be comfortable in His
presence.
3. We must be able to tell Him that we
love Him.
4. We must not be afraid of Him.
5. We must learn to trust Him to run
our life, to make all of our plans.
6. We must trust (believe) that He will
come through for us - that He WILL keep
ALL the promises He has made to us. Those
promises include:
a. that He will be with us in trouble
b. that He will provide food for us
c. that He will provide ALL our needs
d. that He WILL answer our prayers (but
maybe not in the way we wish)
e. that He WILL save us
f. that He WILL save our children
g. that HE is the one who brings
calamity to us - but ONLY for our own
good.
h. that He will go through the calamity
with us
i. that the calamity He brings into our
lives, no matter what it is, is brought to
us to build our character to make us like
Him.
j. that, no matter what happens, we
should have no fear
k. that He DOES love us.
l. that we must go directly to HIM, and
NOT to "man" - to doctors, when we are
sick.
m. that we go directly to HIM, and NOT
to "Christian" counselors or pastors, when
we have troubles.
n. that we WILL hear His voice
o. that we DO trust Him with our life,
and we have no need of "self - defense."
p. that He WILL make us PERFECT!
How do we develop that trust in God?
How do we get to KNOW Him that well?
There is only ONE way:
Daily Bible study and prayer! And it
must be done in the following way:
a. Privately
b. Always in the same place.
c. Always in the morning - at the
beginning of every new day when one is
most alert. (Praying should be done in the
evening, as well, but the major praying
and Bible study should be done in the
morning.)
d. Praying MUST be done on our knees -
in total submission to God (unless one is
too ill or weak to pray on his or her
knees). (If you don't want to pray on your
knees, ask yourself "Why?" Better yet,
tell GOD why you don't!)
You'll NEVER find God until you get on
your knees!
e. It must be done EVERY day, not just
now and then. It MUST become a daily
habit!
f. If you are just starting out, begin
with 15 minutes. As you get to know God
personally, you will find that you WANT -
and you NEED - to spend more time with Him
every day - up to an hour a day, or more.
This is the ONLY way to get to "Know"
God - or anyone else, for that matter - by
spending regular time ALONE with that
individual.
"You will seek Me and you WILL find Me
(but ONLY) WHEN you search for Me with ALL
your heart!" Jeremiah 29:13
The rewards are great! You will find
peace, joy, lack of fear for your safety,
lack of fear for the future, calmness and
self-control. Your life will never again
feel like it's out of control. You will
know that God is ALWAYS in control of your
life.
When you learn to "Know" God in this
way, you will trust Him completely, and
you will truly be able to
"Be anxious for NOTHING!" Phillipians
4:6-7
We
recommend studying all of the material on the 
Daniel's
Prophecies
Expelled:
No Intelligence Allowed
Jesus:
The Man and His Work
Shocked
by the Bible
- An excellent book that endorses most
ASK material.
